The lives of George and Amarilla Barclay

The 2nd Family Of John Barclay

From the 1853 appearance of John Barclay in the Eagle Creek area, I am able to follow him to his death in Minnesota in 1897. It is in Minnesota that he starts his second family.

We first see this when we view the U.S. Federal Census for 1860 . I found this entry under the name “Bartley.”

John Barclay appears with his two sons Alexander and George and the beginning of his second family.

1860 U.S. Federal Census, Minnesota

Minnesota, Eagle Creek, Scott Co., pg. 97, P.O. Shakopee, enumerated 15 July, 1860 by M. P. Clark – Dwelling 838, Family 838, John Bartley, age 48 (born about 1812), male, farmer, born in Scotland. Ellen Bartley 30 (born about 1833), female, born in Norway. Charles Bartley 7/12 mos old, born in Minnesota, Alexander Bartley 20 years old (born about 1840), farm labor, born in Connecticut. George Bartley age 17 (born about 1843), farm labour, born in Connecticut.

One fact about my Barclay family is the ages will keep changing over the years. According to other documentation Alexander was born in 1842 and George was born in 1844. A two-year difference is not necessarily a big difference especially when you do not have an actual birth record. What I do know is taken from military records. To really know the true birthdate you need the parents acting as the informants.

Their father John’s birth year as given here had him born about 1812. I have an obituary and tombstone picture which puts his birth year at 1801 and that is an 11 year difference. John’s age will change a lot over the years to come, so I really don’t know exactly how old he was.

There is a bit of confusion about his 2nd wife’s name. I have finally settled on the fact that it is Helen and not Ellen as this census has indicated. Her surname maiden name is also a little confusing it could be Stevenson or Iverson. It might imply she had been married before? I will go over the documentation I have on Helen in future posts.

As we see here Alexander and George are listed as being born in Connecticut. Going back to the 1857 Minnesota State census (May 15, 2010 post) we see that they are also listed as being born in Connecticut. So you can see why I have focused on Connecticut as their birthplaces.

The other interesting point is the spelling of the name Barclay. It has come down in my family as “Barclay.” However, as you see here is it listed as “Bartley.” I have seen other spellings. Of course, this could be the enumerator’s take on the spelling of the name. My great-grandfather and mother both spelled it “Barclay.”

2 Responses

My grt grt grandfather Anton Colosky, wrongly spelled Gillespie, was in the 1860 Eagle Creek/Shakopee census. He had abt 13 kids and ended up near Pelican Rapids/Lake Lida. I have connections to Kellers, Gallatin County etc also.
Perhaps your John and my Anton knew each other.

Sue: How nice of you to stop by. They might have known each other, it was not that settled. John Barclay arrived about 1853 but before that I do not know how he got there. He is a tough one to research. I have not been able to find him in Connecticut where the kids were born. I hope you are having better success with Anton. Bonnie

Things to Ponder

The Header Photo is of the sign post in Eagle Creek near Shakopee, Minnesota. I could not resist. I did get a chance to visit the area where John Barclay and Ellen had their land and the nice lady was very welcoming and let us come onto the property. Always be kind when you try to visit the former land or your ancestor. Treat the current owners with care.

KELLER DESCENDANTS of John and Mary (Delano) Keller. Over the past year of 2014 and currently in 2015 I have been posting about the descendants of John and Mary on my Solomon Goss of Fearing Twp., In Ohio blog (see the link below). The Surnames are: Keller, Delano, Spracklin, Evertts, Helt, Pearl, WIntermute, Barr, Van Houten, Carson, Shaffer, Kees, Lacy, Riblet and much more. Cousins are sharing on that Solomon Goss Blog. More information has come to light about these families.

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This blog was started on March 10, 2010.

Going to take the Scottish Class.

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